The Professional Regulation and Ethics of Direct-to-Prescription Marketing

The direct-to-prescription business model promises quick and easy access to prescription medication without the expense and burden associated with a traditional doctor's visit by instantly pairing consumers with prescribers via telemedicine. Though ostensibly built on telemedicine's remote professional setting, this business model strains the values traditionally underlying the relationship between prescriber and patient. This article offers a sustained focus on the legal and ethical problems in the relationship among platforms, prescribers, and consumers/patients and identifies potential regulatory access points.The entire direct-to-prescription business model hinges on the participation of licensed professionals who have legal and ethical duties to ensure patient safety. Adopting the best version of this model means respecting and enforcing the values underlying the professional-patient relationship. Entrenchment of the worst aspects of this model, by contrast, threatens to undermine the role of professionals, professional ethics, and ultimately, consumer/patient safety. Consequently, I suggest that the professional regulation and ethics of telemedicine ought to apply and be fully enforced.